


Our tears fell down from the sky

by HikariYumi



Series: Touching the sky [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Awkward Connor, Carl manfred is awesome, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor Needs A Hug, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hank Being Awesome, Hurt Hank, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Connor, Kid Fic, Light Angst, Orphan connor, drug mention, mentions of death and murder, scared connor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 16:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HikariYumi/pseuds/HikariYumi
Summary: The police department calls in everyone at hand for a nightly emergency. Hank brings Connor to the Manfred’s to spend the night, but things change afterwards.





	Our tears fell down from the sky

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there,
> 
> Okay.. I didn’t plan to write this... but I couldn’t help it.  
> I gave myself feels and I needed Hank to make it better.  
> Hope you enjoy it... because I really liked writing it.
> 
> ~Hikari
> 
> This is not beta read and I’m unfortunately no native speaker ^~^  
> If you find mistakes, feel free to tell me so I can correct it. :3

Our tears fell down from the sky

“Mr. Manfred? It’s Lieutenant Anderson, please excuse my late disturbance but I have a favour to ask.”  
The man on the other end of the line didn’t seem too upset about a phone call shortly before midnight, still, Hank felt slightly guilty.  
“How can I help you, Lieutenant?”

“I’ve just been called in for work, there’s a ... big thing going on and they need every man they have. I’m not sure how long that will drag on, but I can’t let Connor be on his own the whole night. Especially, because I’m not sure if I can take him to school in the morning. So would it be possible to let him stay with Markus for the night?”  
Connor might be a well-behaved twelve year old, but it didn’t sit right with Hank to leave the boy alone for an unknown amount of time. Apparently Carl Manfred seemed to understand that sentiment.

There was a faint rustle of fabric noticeable before the painter answered: “Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem at all from my side. I’m quite certain that Markus will be thrilled to finally have Connor stay overnight. Can you bring him over or shall I come to pick him up?”  
Relief flooded Hank upon hearing the warm words and he was quick to assure that he would drop the boy off himself before rushing to work. At least this problem seemed to be solved.

After the call had ended, the man hurried to wake up Connor and explained the situation as good as possible. Fortunately the kid understood Hanks reasoning and didn’t attempt to question the decision at all, but he appeared a bit worried nevertheless.  
During the past two years Connor had lived with him now, he’d not once had one of those sleepovers kids liked to have with their friends. Even after hanging around with Markus and the others a few months ago and growing a bit closer, there’d been never been more than a few afternoon visits.  
Until now Hank had given the boy time to become more comfortable, but sadly this was an emergency.

~

Only fifteen minutes later Hank pressed the doorbell to the rather spacious home of the Manfreds. Next to him Connor stood stockstill, school- and overnight bag slung over his slender shoulders. The kid rarely ever allowed Hank to carry his belongings for him, except for when the man insisted that something was too heavy.

“Good evening, Lieutenant. Hello, Connor.”  
As usual a little smile played around the painter’s lips as he greeted them.  
“I wish you a successful evening and don’t worry about Connor, he’ll be in good hands. Actually I’m sure Markus is hiding on top of the staircase at the moment waiting for you to join him.”  
Connor nodded stiffly and glanced up at Hank, uncertainty in the sleepy eyes. 

“Alright son, I’ve got to go. I know you’ll be behaving, so I won’t bother to tell you. Sleep well and tell Markus hi from me, will ya?”  
Hank placed a broad hand on Connor’s shoulder, squeezing gently before telling his goodbyes to Carl as well.

“Take care, Hank.”  
The man gave his best to smile reassuringly at his boy.  
“I will.”

~

This night had been hell, definitely one of the worse ones that Hank had been forced to witness. Drug cartel wars were never pretty so the department stayed out of them whenever they could, if no civilians were in danger.   
This night though, they couldn’t leave it to the gang’s to fight it out, which resulted in one dead officer, two in bad condition as well as a dozen more with scratches and bruises.

Thanks to all the luck in the world Hank had somehow managed to avoid the worst of it. He’d been checked out of the ER with a few stitches and the order to take it easy by four a.m.   
Hank immediately made his way to the department, just in time for the interrogation of one of the cartel members. 

Cracking the few people they had managed to take in was a lengthy and excruciating affair. Three hours and four cups of coffee later, Hank didn’t feel particularly more knowledgable than before.  
Fowler joined him and the other officers around eight and sent them home to get some rest.

Hank would’ve liked to stay and sort the whole mess out, but he’d done the job long enough to know that it didn’t work that way. So instead he followed his boss’s advice for once and headed home.  
Falling down on to his own sofa felt like heaven and the man allowed himself a few precious minutes of relaxation before he reached for his phone.

Carl Manfred took the call without delay, a hint that he most likely hadn’t started painting already.  
“Good Morning, Lieutenant, I hope everything went well last night?”

Hank let out a tired little sigh.  
“ ‘Well’ might be an overstatement, I’m afraid. It surely wasn’t pretty. I just came home five minutes ago.”  
The painter hummed in understanding but didn’t interrupt.  
“Anyway, have there been any problems with Connor? I’m really sorry that I brought him over without much warning.”

“As i said, it was no bother at all. Feel free to give me in call whenever you’re in need for someone to watch over him. Connor is a good kid and he really loves you. It’s a pleasure to have him visit... even though”  
Instantly Hanks body grew cold, did something happen? No, Carl wouldn’t be as calm if there was something wrong.  
“he was really concerned about you last night. He tried to hide it, quite successfully actually, but when I told him you most likely wouldn’t make it before school starts... well. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you in one piece later.”

How could he forget that? Of course Connor would be anxious when Hank stayed away that long on a case. The boy wasn’t naïve enough to be unaware of the job’s danger, nervousness and upset were common occurrences for the police’s families.

“Thank you, Mr. Manfred.”  
“You’re welcome, Lieutenant. But I’m sure there’s nothing against us being on first-name basis now, is there?”  
Hank smiled lightly, his sentiment to like the other man reinforced by the short exchange.  
“I guess you’re right about that, Carl.”

Laughter sounded through the phone before the painter said: “You seem to need some rest after this night. Maybe try to sleep a bit before you get your boy. No need to upset him even more by looking like death warmed over.”  
Hank had to agree with the other man here and wished Carl goodbye before attempting to do so.

~

Hank leaned against his car while waiting for Connor, trying to avoid jostling his shoulder too much. Driving had proved to be a pain, but nothing too unbearable, fortunately.

Not much later the familiar brown haired boy came in sight, stopping minutely to scan over the little row of cars with parents waiting to retrieve their children.   
Connor’s gaze caught on him and Hank could even see from the distance how the kid’s eyes widened in reaction. 

“Hank!”  
Seconds later the lieutenant found himself with an arm full of Connor, something that still was a rare occurrence.  
The kid’s tiny hands grabbed the back of Hanks jacket nearly forcefully, body pressed firmly against his. 

Hank swallowed as emotion let his throat run dry. Before he could return the right hug, Connor had already withdrawn again, face carefully neutral, at least mostly so.

“Good to see you, son. I’m sorry I didn’t make it this morning.”  
The boy followed Hank into the car and avoided his eyes as he replied with a simple “It’s fine, you were busy but made other arrangements for me. That’s more than sufficient.”

Sometimes Hank considered if Connor really tended to revert to more elaborated speech patterns when he felt wrong-footed. Because lately he’d been adapting to more usual ways of wording, making him sound a lot more like a kid his age.

“Sufficient, huh?”  
Hank didn’t comment how it should be a given, not an optional thing to ensure that your kid was being looked after. Especially if it was still young.   
“Anyway, I’m glad that you had been able to stay with Markus, they seem like really nice people, don’t they?”  
Connor nodded and stared out of the window. Conversation died down after this, silence only interrupted by the radio mumbling as background noise.

“You’re hurt.”  
It wasn’t a question but an observation. So that was why the boy had been glancing over in nearly regular intervals.  
“Just a sprained shoulder, doctor said I’ll be as good as new if I don’t aggravate it too much.”  
Connor didn’t say another thing for the whole ride.

~

During the next two weeks Connor’s intense brown eyes kept zoning in on Hanks movements, checking for signs of pain and any changes to how he used his shoulder.  
Hank had been taking it slowly, temporarily benched for field-work he’d been mostly taking care of bureaucracy as well as interviewing suspects. So by now he was feeling already as good as new again, but the boy didn’t seem to be convinced already.  
Different than Fowler.

Coincidentally it was one of the afternoon shifts when Hank had brought Connor with him to the department, that he was allowed back into active duty.  
The whole time when Fowler briefed him, the kid was eyeing him hard. 

This time it was a simple crime scene, even though there had been found some traces of the red-ice drug from a two weeks ago. Someone had been found dead in the warehouse district, time of death approximately the night before. Hank was reasonably sure that there was no threat around anymore.

“It shouldn’t take too long this time, maybe we’ll even be in time for dinner.”  
Hank smiled at the kid, but it’s face didn’t waver for a second.  
“I’ll hurry, okay Connor?”  
He slipped in his jacket and pocketed his gun while shutting down his computer. When he looked at the boy again, he was startled to see something akin to Panik in his eyes.  
Connor was scared of Hank leaving again.

“No need to worry, alright? It’s just an investigation, nothing spectacular, it’s not risky as the last one.”  
The kid perked up a bit: “Then, can I come with you?”  
Hank couldn’t say that he saw that coming and it touched his heart to decline Connor’s wish.

“You know I can’t take you with me into the field, even if you weren’t a kid. I’m sorry.”  
And he really was, especially when Hank noticed how Connor’s breath took on a quicker pace. The boy was honestly upset about staying in the department alone.  
“Please, Hank. I can stay in the car, no one will notice that I’m there. I promise.”

If it would have been any other kid, if it would’ve been _Cole_ , the man would’ve declined the plea without much hesitation. But that was Connor, a boy who rarely ever showed emotions to such an extent, who’d been assumably through a lot of shit in his youth. And just like this Hank noticed himself relent.

“You stay in the car, even if I have to lock you inside”, he huffed gruffly while checking if someone in the office had witnessed their plan. That’s why Hank only caught part of Connor’s reaction to his words as well as the quick reply that this wouldn’t be necessary.

Sometimes Hank really wanted to punch someone.

~

True to his word the investigation didn’t take too long. The forensics had secured all evidence and Hank had a clear space to work with.   
It was one of those clear-cut cases which went easy and smooth, thank god.

When Hank exited the warehouse and walked across the street to his car, Connor’s face quickly turned back forward.  
Did the boy watch the door the whole time?

“Hey Connor, hope you weren’t too bored? But I’m finished for today, we can go home.”  
The kid shook his head without facing Hank again. Was he embarrassed?

After a silent car ride the man ushered his kid inside, trying to not feel to bad about being the source of Connor’s concern.  
Over the course of the evening Hank pondered the question of and how he should break the topic to the kid, but in the end it was Connor who took initiative.

“I wanted to apologise about my behaviour earlier, I was-“  
The boy fell silent, conflicted and ashamed. Hank sighed and crouched down in front of him to get on eye-level.  
“Listen to me, Connor, it’s okay to be upset and it’s okay not to be okay-“  
“-but”  
“-no buts. Believe me. Don’t ever think you can’t come to me or talk about it when something is bothering you, alright? Only if I know about it, we can figure something out together. Just like today, okay Connor?”

The boy blinked and stared to the ground, hands fumbling with something in his pocket, still quiet.  
“Look, You’re my- You’re my son and I love you, I want you to be happy. I know I’ve scared you a few weeks ago, but we’ll get through this.”

“Yes.”  
Connor’s voice was thin and so, so young, Hank couldn’t help but feel reminded off when he’d picked the boy up the afternoon after the incident.

“Connor, look at me, I’m serious about this. I’ll never be- I’ll never react negatively to you feeling something. This is really important.”  
The kid finally looked up at him again, mouth opened a bit, eyes wide and suspiciously wet.

Following his instinct Hank opened his arms a bit and he felt like tearing up as well when Connor actually stepped inside, hugging him carefully.

They stayed like this for a long time, even after the boy whispered timidly:  
“I- I love you, too... dad.”


End file.
